Restaurant-bar La Terraza de Cojímar: A century of history and good taste

By Daily Pérez Guillén

“Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea,” the words with which US writer Ernest Hemingway described the fisherman Santiago, the protagonist of the most emblematic of his works, are printed on the plaque that commemorates from this May 20 the century of existence of the restaurant-bar La Terraza de Cojímar.

“A century of tradition, culture and passion for the authenticity of good service. This emblematic corner, silent witness of stories and legends, has been more than a restaurant: a guardian of memories, a refuge for fishermen and an everlasting scenario of Hemingway’s link with Cuba,” noted Lázaro Darién Casabella, general director of Empresa Extrahotelera Palmares in his words to mark the date.

In the coastal town of Cojímar, east of Havana, Hemingway found inspiration to create the most notable of his novels, The Old Man and the Sea. It was here that he met Gregorio Fuentes, skipper of the boat Pilar, whose memories also place him in this restaurant, which, from a fishermen’s inn, eventually became a site specializing in seafood.

“Ernest Hemingway, a great writer, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, was a person who integrated into the town of Cojímar like just another fishermen. Today, as a kind of tribute, table number 11 is reserved for him at La Terraza,” explained young historian Daniel Alejandro Álvarez, who emphasized the value of this site not only as a place to enjoy a good meal, but also as it houses part of the history of Cojímar.

Ernest Hemingway at La Terraza de Cojímar. Courtesy of Mabel Blanco.

Throughout time, this has been one of the scenarios to recall the novelist’s years spent in Cuba. Tourists from all over the world, including the well-known “Hemingway look-alikes,” have made it an obligatory stop on their tours.

For this reason, the director of Palmares emphasized that La Terraza bridges the gap between the past and the present and thanked and acknowledged, “all those who have been part of the history: the visitors who have turned their presence into a ritual, the workers who have dedicatedly defended its legacy and the noble people of Cojímar, who have given meaning to this site.”

To mark the centenary, workers who over the past decades have ensured excellent service and maintained the quality and legacy of this emblematic site of gastronomy in the capital of Cuba were recognized.

With the color of Santiago’s eyes coming through the windows, the warmth of the service and the special sea flavor of its dishes, La Terraza de Cojímar begins another century, and we celebrate with the “Don Gregorio” cocktail to continue telling its story.